Wireless community alerting system

ABSTRACT

A pager-based alert system includes a monitor center that is in telephonic or data communication with a paging station allowing the command center to send multi-digit code words where selected digits comprise an address for selecting one or more of a plurality of physical units (paging receivers) and to direct the receiver to output visible and/or audible signals indicative of a particular alert condition. By providing the physical unit with graphic icons overlaying the visual indicators, an observer can readily determine the nature of the alert condition so that appropriate remedial action can be taken.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No.10/084,011, filed Feb. 25, 2002, and entitled “Wireless CommunityAlerting System”.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] This invention relates generally to electronic messaging systems,and more particularly, to a pager-based community alerting system forinforming subscribers of immediate or impending conditions so that anappropriate response may be made.

[0004] 2. Discussion of the Prior Art

[0005] The prior art includes a large number of patents and publicationsrelating to emergency warning systems whereby members of the public canbe alerted to such events as dangerous weather conditions, terroristactivities, environmental hazards and the like. The Lemelson et al. U.S.Pat. No. 6,084,510 describes a danger warning and emergency responsesystem having an extensive listing of prior art relating to suchsystems. The apparatus of the Lemelson '510 patent is intended toprovide emergency information to large multitudes of persons who may bein harms way. Given the fact that the implementation described in the'510 patent calls for satellites, pilotless aircraft, a downlink to acommand center having one or more computers for analyzing receivedinformation from the satellites to arrive at a “danger index” as well asa ground base radio broadcasting system, the implementation cost wouldprice the system out of reach of most subscribers.

[0006] The prior art is also replete with systems specifically designedfor warning citizens of impending natural disasters, such as tornadoes,hurricanes, heavy snow and ice storms in an affected geographical area.For example, the Uber et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,515 describes anemergency broadcast alert system that comprises a radio receiverreferred to as a “scanner” that is designed to lock onto a broadcastedsignal in the presence of noise. The receiver then repeatedly scanswithin a predetermined frequency band, looking for a transmitted signalfrom the National Weather Service and the receiver then provides anaudible alarm so that one would, therefore, have to resort to broadcasttelevision or radio to find out the storm path and expected time ofarrival in a given geographical area. Thus, while the Uber system isrelatively inexpensive, it lacks a capability to promptly advise alistener of important information relating to a potentially dangerousstorm.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,873 to Cragun also describes a weatherwarning system that includes a communication link for receivingtransmitted alerts (weather warnings/watches). It also includes a userinterface that allows for selection of different geographic areas sothat weather conditions affecting areas other than those of interest arefiltered out. For proper operation, it is essential that the system bepreprogrammed to identify geographical areas and weather intensityparameters. The ability to program the system may exceed thecapabilities of many end-users.

[0008] Thus, a need exists for a subscriber-based alerting system thatis inexpensive to implement and, thus, well within the budget of mostpersons occupying houses, apartments and other residential units as wellas commercial and government establishments and that requires little orno manual involvement, yet is both versatile and reliable in operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] According to the present invention, an electronic messagingsystem for both emergency and non-emergency events affecting differentcommunities or subscriber groupings comprises a monitoring center foraccepting and verifying alerts from authorized agencies. The monitoringcenter may be coupled through a public switched telephone network ordedicated data network to at least one paging provider network havingthe ability to broadcast a radio-frequency carrier suitably modulatedwith information, including addressing data and message data, based uponpaging data input from the monitoring center pertaining to an alert. Aplurality of physical units are installed in residential, commercial,and government buildings. Each includes a receiver, tunable to thecarrier frequency of a paging provider network, a demodulator forrecovering the address data and message data sent by the pagingterminal, a microprocessor coupled to receive the addressing and messagedata, where the microprocessor further includes a memory that stores alist of codes pertinent to a particular end user physical unit. Thephysical units also include a plurality of visual and audible signalingdevices that become activated between an off-state, an on-state, or ablinking-state only when received addressing data matches an entry inthe physical unit's stored code list. The physical units may alsoinclude an alphanumeric display to convey verbiage pertaining to aparticular alert.

[0010] In accordance with a further feature of the invention, a graphicsicon may be associated with each of the visual indicating devices toreadily convey in a non-lingual manner the nature of the alert beingsent to occupants viewing the physical unit. For example, the icon maycomprise a funnel cloud to represent a tornado warning or an automobileto indicate parking restrictions.

[0011] Various other features and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment, especially when considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals in theseveral views refer to corresponding parts.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 is a general block diagram of the electronic messagingsystem comprising a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of each of the physical units (PU)illustrated in FIG. 1;

[0014]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the Status & Message DisplayModule shown in FIG. 2;

[0015]FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of a physical unit showing thelayout of visual signaling devices thereon;

[0016]FIG. 5 shows a series of icons used on the unit of FIG. 4;

[0017]FIG. 6 is a functional flow diagram helpful in understanding thesoftware algorithms used in implementing the system of FIG. 1; and

[0018]FIG. 7 is an overlay for a physical unit incorporating the currentHomeland Security Advisory System for indication of a level of terroristthreat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0019] Referring first to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a system blockdiagram of the electronic messaging system of the present invention. Itcomprises a monitoring center 10 that is coupled by a communicationslink 12 to a paging provider network 14 having transmission equipmentfor broadcasting information to one or more physical units 16. Virtuallymany thousands, millions or an unlimited number of physical units 16 maybe incorporated into the messaging system contemplated.

[0020] The monitoring center 10 incorporates a computing andcommunications networking equipment and an operator who may receive avariety of alerts from authorized public and/or private agencies orindividuals. The operator at the monitoring center determines thelegitimacy of the alert in question. He/she may then contact the pagingprovider network, sending an alpha and/or numeric message, via a publicswitched telephone network or data network to the paging transmitter 14of a licensed paging service provider. The paging transmitter receives,processes, stores and forwards information input by the monitoringcenter 10 staff who has validated the call by determining theauthenticity of the calling agency or individual. An RF transmissionsystem owned by the paging company is often comprised of a plurality oftransmitters capable of accepting data from the telephone lines. Itshould be understood, however, that instead of telephone lines, thecommunication link 12 may also comprise an RF link, data network orsatellite transmission. Upon decoding the alert data, the transmittertranslates the paging data into a signal that modulates an RF carriersignal of a desired frequency.

[0021] The physical units 16 are modified versions of commerciallyavailable receivers, which can be leased from a paging service provideror purchased through various retailers, and are adapted to receivemessages transmitted to it from the pager terminal 14.

[0022] Once the paging transmitter 14 receives a page message from themonitoring center 10, it processes, stores and forwards the informationto another paging transmitter through its communications network and/orultimately on to the physical unit(s) 16. The processing step involvesencoding the paging data for transmission through the carrier pagingsystem. Typically, an encoder accepts the incoming paging message,validates the pager address and “encodes” the address and page data intothe appropriate paging signaling protocol. Once the page is encoded, itis sent to the RF link system, which includes the link transmitter andlink receiver. A link transmitter sends the page to a link receiver,which is located at another paging terminal site along the channel. Thetransmitters of the paging terminal(s) then broadcast the page acrossthe coverage area on the specified carrier frequency.

[0023] Once data is received from the encoder, the paging protocolemployed at the paging transmitter 14 organizes the message into framesof data, which is a specified sized packet of data bits. One popularpaging protocol developed by the Motorola Company is referred to asFLEX®. In it there are a total of 128 frames and it takes exactly fourminutes to transmit all 128 frames. The FLEX protocol provides a varietyof common services, such as message routing, encryption, datacompression to enable applications to send messages reliably, securelyand efficiently over the communication channel comprising one or morepaging terminal(s) 14 to the physical units 16. Other protocols are alsoavailable.

[0024] Turning next to FIG. 2, there is shown a block diagram of each ofthe plurality of physical units 16. The heart of the physical unit 16 isa receiver module 18 coupled to receive the encoded messages transmittedby the pager transmitter 14. Without limitation, the receiver 18 may bea Motorola Type LS350, which is operatively coupled to a microprocessor20, preferably a microchip Type TMP86FS41 Flash-based 8-bit CMOSmicrocontroller. While this microcontroller is not the only commerciallyavailable unit that can be used, its architecture provides a 16-bit wideinstruction word with separate 8-bit wide data buses. A two-stageinstruction pipeline allows all instructions to execute in a singlecycle except for programmed branches. It incorporates a large registerset that can be used to achieve very high performance. As such, it iswell suited to use in home appliances, consumer electronics andhand-held electronics. Because of its wide application, it has arelatively low cost, making it a good choice for use in the presentinvention.

[0025] The microprocessor-based controller 20 is connected incontrolling relation to a status & message display module 22. FIG. 3 isa schematic diagram of the status & message display driver 22 and itpreferably comprises a microcontroller 24 that is connected to datalines 26 and 28 by way of a data interface comprising NPN transistorswitches 30 and 32, respectively.

[0026] The microcontroller 24, preferably a PIC 16F62 microcontroller,is especially designed to function as a display driver and its outputsare connected through current limiting resistors, as at 34, to visualsignaling devices, here shown as LEDs 36-48. Ten of these LEDs (36-45)are used to convey alert message information to an observer while theremaining three (46-48) provide information as to the operating statusof the system. One of the status indicators 46 is illuminated as long asalternating current power is being applied to the physical unit. Asecond indicator, 47, may be used to indicate the charge status of theback-up battery used in the system and the remaining status indicator 48may be used to indicate that the system is disabled because, forexample, a subscriber has not paid the monthly charge for the alertingservice. An alpha readout 49 could also be included in addition to thevisual signaling devices to provide further information to the end user.

[0027] Certain emergency conditions may require immediate action on thepart of a subscriber. For example, a tornado warning may take place at atime that a subscriber is sleeping or otherwise out of visual contactwith the physical unit. For this reason, an audible signaling devicetermed a siren is also included in the physical unit as represented byblock 50 in FIG. 2. The issuance of an audible signal by the systemresults in the subscriber moving to a position to visually examine thephysical unit's display panel to become advised of the nature of thealert.

[0028] To provide a more observable visual indication that a physicalunit has received an alert message, a “visual enhancer” in the form of aflashing light bar, star or other pattern is provided as represented byblock 52 in FIG. 2. In implementing block 52, the same type of displaydriver as is implemented in the Status & Message display 22 can be used.Upon receipt of an alarm-enable, the PIC 16 F62 microcontroller executesa program causing a plurality of light-emitting diodes that arephysically arranged in a desired pattern to blink on and off either insynchronism or sequentially so as to create the illusion of movement. Asubscriber noticing the flashing pattern would then approach thephysical unit and view the particular alert message(s) being displayedby the visual signaling devices (LEDs) 36-45. The microcontroller 20 isalso coupled to a set of contacts to control the operation of remotelylocated devices such as, but not limited to horns, light flashers, andvibrating devices as represented by block 54 in FIG. 2. Thus, in acommercial or industrial installation, an audible/visual signalingdevice located in a building remote from the physical unit itself can beactuated by an appropriate message picked up by the receiver 18 andprocessed by the microcontroller 20. The sounding or flashing device hasits own power source that becomes connected to it when a “remote set”signal from microcontroller 20 actuates appropriate relay contacts (notshown). Those relay contacts become reset or reopened upon receipt of aremote-rst signal from the microcontroller 20.

[0029] It has also been found expedient to provide a historical memoryin the physical unit itself for recording the time and date and type ofalert events received by the physical unit in question. The historicalmemory is represented by block 56 and preferably may comprise anElectrically Erasable PROM memory such as a Type 24LC16B device. It has16 kilobits, organized as eight blocks of 256×8-bit memory. Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate, however, that other commerciallyavailable memory devices can be used as well.

[0030] With continued reference to FIG. 2, provision is made formanually resetting a physical unit following receipt of an alertmessage. The only end user input/control for the physical unit is apush-button momentary contact switch which when depressed causes asignal to be applied to the reset (RST) input to the receiver 18 and a/RST input to microcontroller 20 and selected inputs of the status &message display 22, the audible alarm 50 and the remote switch 54.

[0031] The central power module 57 (FIG. 2) comprises a full waverectifier for converting AC line power to a DC voltage as well asconventional integrated circuit voltage regulators for providing therequisite operating voltages for the receiver 18, the CPU 20 and thecircuits 22, 52, 54 and 56 shown in the system block diagram of FIG. 2.The central power 57 also includes a DC battery backup, which takes overin the event of AC line power failure. A 9 volt battery fits into acompartment that is wired so as to render the compartment polarityinsensitive. As such, it matters not which way the battery is insertedin the compartment. This avoids system malfunction in the event of an ACpower failure if a subscriber had improperly inserted the battery into abattery compartment that has not been so wired as to be polarityinsensitive.

[0032] Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a front perspective view of aphysical unit 16 showing the layout of visual and audible signalingdevices thereon. It comprises a box-like housing 56 in which printedcircuit boards (not shown) carrying the circuitry depicted in the blockdiagram of FIG. 2 reside. The alert message visual signaling devices36-45 may be arranged in a horizontal row while the status visualindicators 46, 47 and 48 may be grouped separately and may be arrangedin a vertical pattern on the housing 56. The audible alarm (siren) 50 isdisposed behind the top cover with an aperture through which the soundis emitted. The reset button 60 for the system reset block 62 in FIG. 2also projects through an aperture formed in the housing 56 and is anintegral part of the top overlay so as to be accessible to thesubscriber.

[0033] The “visual enhancer” light array, as at 62, may also beprovided. The on/off state of the individual LEDs is controlled by themicroprocessor 20, which is adapted to send a signal over line 64 inFIG. 2 to the block 52 labeled Alarm Display. The LEDs in the array 62are shown as being arranged in a star-shaped pattern, but other patternsmay be used as well. By causing the array 76 to blink on and off at adesired rate, the fact that a message has been received by the physicalunit 16 can readily be discerned whereby the subscriber can then moreclosely examine the physical unit and note which one(s) of the messageindicators 36-45 has (have) been activated.

[0034] To render the nature of an alert condition more understandable,in accordance with the present invention, a suitable icon is associatedwith and possibly overlaid upon each of the message indicators. FIG. 5illustrates only a few of the possible icons that may be applied overtheir associated LEDs so as to become illuminated when a particularalert event is being transmitted to the physical unit. In FIG. 5, icon Acan be associated with, say, LED 36 in FIG. 3 to thereby indicatereceipt of a tornado alert from the paging station. Icon B in FIG. 5 canbe made overlay the LED 37 in FIG. 3, which then becomes illuminatedwhen the alert condition being transmitted is a severe thunderstorm.Likewise, icon C may be associated with LED 38 to signal a snowstorm orblizzard. Icon D in FIG. 5 can be positioned over LED 39 to indicate aschool closing alert. By controlling the LED 39, it can be made to blinkto indicate a two-hour delay or it may remain on steadily to indicate anall day closing. Similarly, icon E representing a school bus may overlaythe LED 40 to signal that buses are running late.

[0035] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the icons presentedin FIG. 4 are somewhat arbitrary and are provided only as an example ofhow a particular alert being transmitted to the unit 16 is to beinterpreted. Further information on the severity or urgency of aparticular alert can be conveyed by a judicious choice of LED color forthe message indicators.

[0036] Assume that an authorized individual or agency wishes to issue analert to all subscribers residing in a given geographical area. Theaddress code broadcast by the paging station may be based upon postalzip codes, which consume only five (or nine depending on the degree oflocalization desired) digits out of the total number of digits used.This leaves ample capacity for storing additional code digits forfurther defining particular subscriber physical units and alert types towhich given physical unit 16 can be responsive.

[0037] The present invention also has the capability to issue anddisplay multiple types of alerts simultaneously. For example, in thecase of a snow storm in a particular area, an alert for the stormitself, and a school closing occasioned by the storm can besimultaneously displayed. The capability also exists for one physicalunit 16 to be located in multiple physical or logical zones. Forexample, one physical unit could be part of weather zone 1 and schoolzone 1. A different physical unit could also be a part of weather zone 1but reside in school zone 2. It is also possible to program a physicalunit residing in weather zone 1 to respond to alerts for both weatherzone 1 and weather zone 7, even if weather zone 7 is physically separateby geographical distance. Logical groups of common interest can also bealerted simultaneously, regardless of their geographic distance from oneanother. For example, members of the armed forces could reside ingeographically disperse areas but could be considered as one logicalgroup.

[0038] Having described the apparatus involved in implementing thepresent invention, consideration will next be given to its mode ofoperation. In this regard, reference is made to the flow diagram of FIG.6, which is illustrative of the algorithm executed by the hardware.Referring to block 66, an event occurs or a condition develops thatrequires the notification of an individual or group of individuals or agroup of people having physical units 16 and subscribing to the alertingservice. An authorized party, such as the Federal Department of HomelandSecurity, the National Weather Service, the State Patrol, a schooldistrict superintendent or a city official initially determines atdecision block 68 whether the event is of a nature requiringnotification to subscribers. If so, the authorized individual contactsthe monitoring center 10 by a voice telephone call, fax message, e-mail,etc. (block 70). Notification in all cases will consist of the type ofevent or condition that exists, which may be an emergency ornon-emergency. The notification will also specify the physical orlogical area to be covered. Examples of an emergency event may includesevere weather conditions, an environmental disaster or the like. Anon-emergency event may be the existence of a lawn sprinkling ban toconserve water, delayed school openings and periodic system tests thatare regularly scheduled and issued automatically by the monitoringcenter for the purpose of performing a non-intrusive end to end test ofthe system. System tests can be performed on a per physical unit basis,a group by group basis, or globally to include all units.

[0039] A determination is made at decision block 72 to verify that thecaller is authorized to initiate the type of alert to be issued. If thecaller does not have the proper level of authorization, he is so advisedand no alert is issued (block 74).

[0040] If, on the other hand, the individual calling the monitoringcenter is authorized to issue a particular alert, the monitoring centerdials the appropriate pager number(s), or accesses the paging serviceprovide via a data network (block 76). It should be recalled at thispoint that all of the physical units 16 contain paging receivers 18 thatare preprogrammed to respond to the same CAP code. All of the physicalunits will, therefore, receive all messages sent from the paging station14 that are associated with that paging telephone number, whether it isintended that those particular physical units are to respond or not. Thedetermination as to whether or not a particular physical unit shouldrespond is made by comparing the incoming signal data stream and thedatabase, which resides in the physical unit, looking for a match as aresult of the comparison.

[0041] A test is made at decision block 78 as to whether the monitoringcenter has received a pager tone or data connection confirmation and, ifnot, control loops back over line 80 causing the monitoring center toredial the pager number or reconnect the data network until the test atdecision block 78 is satisfied. At this point, the monitoring centerinputs the appropriate data such as, but not limited to a 16 decimaldigit code (block 82). This code represents a combination of whether ornot one or more of the physical units 16 should respond to the inputcode and the manner in which the response is to be made. To include asingle physical unit, the unit's unique address would be sent along withthe data stream instructing the unit as to how to respond. To addressmultiple units simultaneously, the use of “wild card” characters wouldbe used to indicate all users of a particular sub group. For example, ifthe address data of each unit was nine characters long, wild cardcharacters in place of digits six through nine would alert all unitsmatching the first five digits irrespective of what the last four digitswere. The use of wild card characters for all nine digits would equateto all units, therefore all unit would respond to the following stringof data which would convey exactly how the physical unit should respond.

[0042] It is to be recalled at this point that all of the physical units16 are preprogrammed with a list of one or more codes to which they willrespond. All physical units are also preprogrammed with instructions asto how they should respond to a given code that matches one on theirlist, e.g., visual signal only, audible signal only, both visual andaudible signals, whether the remote contacts should be actuated, etc.Furthermore, multiple codes can be stacked on an individual physicalunit meaning, for example, that a visual indication indicative of severeweather and sound can be turned on simultaneously when a test light alsohas been turned on.

[0043] A test is made at decision block 84 to determine whether thephysical units receive the code from the paging transmitter and, if not,control again passes over line 80 causing the monitoring center to againredial the pager number. If, however, the code was properly received,the subscriber unit responds appropriately to the notification. Thesubscriber's attention is captured by the flashing “visual enhancer” 62and by the individual visual signaling LEDs and/or sound output. Theirfocus is then brought to the individual light(s) that are illuminated.The screening which overlays the individual lights bearing the iconsserves to indicate what the particular light represents. Additionalinformation may be communicated via an alpha display screen 49 as well.

[0044] If the subscriber desires to cancel the notification, he or shecan depress the user interface button 60 and if the physical unit'sprogramming allows, shut off the light and/or sound. It is beunderstood, however, that certain notifications are not able to be resetby the end-user and will require cancellation from the monitoring centervia the same process used in which they were individually actuated, itbeing understood that a different code is employed to terminate anotification.

[0045] The present invention is readily adaptable for use as a part ofthe Federal Government's Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) todisseminate information regarding the risk of terrorist attacks tofederal, state and local authorities as well as to members of thepublic. The HSAS includes five levels of potential risk. Referring toFIG. 7, in addition to the icons described previously, there areprovided five additional colored overlays adapted to be back-lit byunderlying LED devices. The color coding of green, blue, yellow, orangeand red correspond to the colors used in the HSAS. In addition, thecolored icons include the words “low”, “guarded”, “elevated”, “high” and“severe” in accordance with the HSAS standards. In adopting the overlayof FIG. 7, the icons in row 90 will overlay the LED lights 36-45 shownin FIG. 4 and the bar 92 would be used as the attention attractor ratherthan the star-shaped configuration shown in FIG. 4. Five additional LEDswould be added to the physical unit 16 to back light the HSAS statusindicators shown in row 94. The three overlays shown in the verticalcolumn 96 will overlay the LEDs 46, 47 and 48 to provide an indicationof whether AC power, battery backup or a disabled state of the unit isactive, all as previously described. Finally, if the physical unitincorporates an alpha/numeric LCD display, a cutout may be provided inthe overlay 89 allowing messages to show through. The area labeled“PRESS” overlays the “RESET” button in FIG. 4.

[0046] From what has been heretofore described, it should be apparenthow messages can be formatted and sent to the physical units for causinga selected one of the threat level indicators in row 94 to beilluminated as the alert level is issued by the Department of HomelandSecurity.

[0047] This invention has been described herein in considerable detailin order to comply with the patent statutes and to provide those skilledin the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles andto construct and use such specialized components as are required.However, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out byspecifically different equipment and devices, and that variousmodifications, both as to the equipment and operating procedures, can beaccomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic messaging system comprising: (a) amonitoring center for accepting alerts from authorized agenciesincluding the Federal Department of Homeland Security; (b) at least onepaging terminal having the ability to broadcast a radio frequencycarrier suitably modulated with information including addressing dataand message data, said at least one paging terminal adapted to receivepaging instructions from said monitoring center pertaining to an alert;(c) a plurality of physical units, each including (i) a receiver tunedto said carrier frequency, the receiver including a demodulator forrecovering the addressing data and message data, (ii) a microprocessorcoupled to receive the addressing data and message data, themicroprocessor having a memory for storing a code list, and (iii) aplurality of visual signaling devices controlled by the microprocessor,selected ones of the plurality of visual signaling devices beingactivated only when received addressing data matches an entry in saidcode list, said plurality of visual signaling devices including acolor-coded display indicative of a level of threat of terrorist attackas established by the Department of Homeland Security.
 2. The electronicmessaging system of claim 1 wherein the one(s) of the plurality ofvisual signaling devices activated is determined from said message data.3. The electronic messaging system of claim 2 wherein the visualsignaling devices are light sources.
 4. The electronic messaging systemof claim 3 and further including icons adapted to be illuminated by saidlight sources, the icons representing the nature of alerts beingsignaled.
 5. The electronic messaging system of claim 4 and furtherincluding colored, transparent overlays illuminated by said lightsources, said overlays being colored and lettered in accordance with astandard established by the Federal Department of Homeland Security.